Flue damper and latching mechanism



Dec 16, 1930. GE, LAUER 1,785,385

FLUE' DAMPER AND LATCHING MECHANISM Filed Nov. 1, 1928 INVENTOR.

George 5 L (yer M5 ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 16, 1930 f;1 enonenn. LAUER,or voaxmlvnkennn oniira v witha latching mechanism whichlope'rates, automatically to both latch and,unlatch' the damper into and from itsc l'osed position apartial rotationoffthedampen .10.

tion is the constructionin aifiue havinga pivoted damper, of a shoulderin said ,damper, s a pendulum supported 'by said flue and provided witha horizontally, eiitending' portion,

1 and means for guidingsai'd h'orizontallyex tending portion in'a'Closedpath around said shoulder.

The invention-pbsssee other objects andfeatures of advantage, some ofwhich, with i the foregoing, will besetforth-in the'followingdescription of the fpreferred form of my invention which is illustratedin thegdrawings accompanying the present "specification. It is to beunderstood thatI do not limit my- 5 self to the showing made by the saiddrawings and description as I may adopt variations of the preferred formwithin thescope of my invention as set forth inthe claims.

Referring to said drawings: Figure 1, is'a vertical sectionof a flue andor unlatched. e e Figure 4 is atop plane view of the mechanism shown inthe above figures. V f

My invention contemplates the use of a conventional cylindrical flue 1,adapted to be 7 closed by a damper 2, pivotallyl carried on a shown inthe drawings both'the flue and its damper are of circular form butobjects of my invention may be embodied therein irrespective of suchform; 1

Formed on the periphery of the damper 2 More specifically'the object ofthis inve1i-' g'eth'er definejwhat'maybe termed horizontal to averticalposition in Figure lkthej'pendulum 12should be piv damper inwhich the objects of my invention,

rod 3 secured along one of its chords. As"

nit outwardly by their incl nedsurfaces; On

m -mmn A I Ne M GHAN M i2 L}, Q31: "i

1. 2M ;Application th amma, 19 2 8. j serial lio aiegb.

and preferably alongthe; perpendicular 'biseqt reo i pivo a a isadownwefdly 6 tending pocket t, provided on its 'outer wall 7 with ashelf'5 secured to the damper 2 on eithers'ideofthe pocket land disposedabove 55,

and vertical 'shoulders. It is to "benotedthat' the portion 8 iscoplanerwith the 'damperQ and thatthelowei-{end of the portionei) liesjustabove theipla'ne of theshelf Th i r I P d f i trips 6' and 7fextendsomewhat beyond the vertical rear wall "of tlif pocket" 4 andlieinaninclined'plane whichin tersects'the open inouth of the pocket. Due

to the additional weight of the'pocket l the center of-gravity of thedamper '2, lies at a point between the pocket and the rod,3. The

damper is therefore always u r'ged by gravity Extending'inwardly intotheflue 1 and secured "thereto at a point somewhat abovetliehorizontal'plane determined 'by the rod '3, is a bracket. 11: Totheouter end of this bracket I is pivoted apendulurn"12}provided at itslow er'e'n'd witha cross-arm 13. As best shown :30 oted on an aXis'whichlies considerably inwardlyfof the'pocket formed bv'the' right an gularlydisposed'portions 8 and ear the guide strips Gand- H v p The automatic-operation of the latching mechanism abovedescribed may'befeifected bymerely pulling on a cord l5 attached to the damper 2 on the sideopposite the pocket 4 and is as follows Normally, the'damper,' due 1toithe action of gravity, remains in vertical position. "By pulling onthe cord 1 5the damper is gradually made-to assume a horizontal positionand so doing the guide members band 7 'engage the' cross-arm 13 of thepen-j duluin "12, (as shown in Figure 1) ,and force reachingtheright-angularly"disposed portions 8' and athe penduluniis swung to "theleft until 'itscross-arrn'i's engaged beneath angularly disposedportions 8 and 9, as shown in Figure 2. To release or unlatch the devicethe cord is .givena further pull until the cross-arm of the pendulum hascleared the lower edgesof the vertical portions 9, at which time thedamper is free to fall and the pendulum free to move to the left. It iis to be noted"-that the shelf 5' prevents the cross-arm from completinga closed path about the strips 6 and 7 without first engag ing theshoulders formed by theiri-ght-uangu-i larly disposed portions 8 and 9.

Although as shown in -the d-rawing's"the damper has been provided with adownwardof material having, the; same cross-sectional contour. as that;I of 4 the pocket lshown. will serve to guide the cross a-rmofithe'pcndfll m in the desired manner; "INQIHneed the cross-7 arm, :13be} Provided with two legs as .shown,

- one legbeingasufiicient to, answer Ithepurpose;

Fromthe above description,it belnoted that I have; provided a latching'mechanism for flue damp erls' Operating automatically to mere partialrotation otthedamper, V,

Iclaiinzfl v a 1; flue, provided with a vpivoted damper,

a catch ,member provided onpsaid. damper, a

pendulum supportedby, said? flue and "pro both, latch and;unl'tchsaidfdamper. by a 'videdlwitha horizontallyfextending portion forguidingsaid; horizontally extending. por

tion in a closedpath around andintoand out (if lz uschingengagementrwith; said catch member upon successive movement of thedamper in; one direction r a 2. Ailue provided cwithia pivotedrdamper,

a catch member provided in saidjjdamper, a, pendulumg-supported by saidflue" and provided-with horizontally, extending portion adapted to be;latehedwith. said catch mem b.er,.in.yone position ofQ-saidlpendulum,and

it tendingPPrtiQIilying 11e, side of said l means; :for' progressivelyguiding, said horizontally extending portion into' engagement with saidpatch member upon movement of the damper into a;vpredeterminedgposition,V said catch member. releasing the pendulum upon further movement ofsaid damper.

3Q A flue provided with a pivoted damper; f

acatch'member carried' by said damper; a

pendulum: supported bysaid flue, and provided with ahorizontally-extendingportion, the neutral position 1 ofsaidlhorizontally exfor progressively guiding said horizontallyextending portion into latching engagement wan; said catch memberg whenmoving the damper-toamlosed position, said catch memben lea n t eip l mtrwi p in 0f 7 1 the dam er, H

supported by said flue and provided with a horizontally extendingportion, the neutral position of said horizontally extending portionlying to one side of said catch member;

said member being formed for guiding said horizontally extending portioninto engage- I ment with said catchmember on a relative movementybetween said-L pendulum and said 7 i i I hold the da mper in apredetermined position, ly depressed pocket 4, it is evident that astrip means on saidda-mper co-operating with said latch; 1 a: rela rovem tw Said latch and damper for effecting engagement of the latch,with said catch, and means 'for partially {rotating Said", damper. i

6. A flue provided with apivoted damper havin a catchimember thereon abracket seb V .J I

cured to saidqflue 'a latch pivotally suspended! from said bracket, saidcatchmemb'er in.- cl'uding a guide member co-operating with said catch.member: to guide 7 said latch be- 'ne'athla portion ofithefcatch on "a'relative movement between said flue and latch.

5 7. A fluejprovidedv-with aj pivoted damper arranged; to normally hangin open position, gravity operated latcli'means. carried by said flue,and Qmeans including a catch member arrangedfwhereby, on a partialrotation of said damper, the latch will be guided into and .out {oflatching engagement Wlt l1' the catch membergg,"

1 In testimony;

my. hand: atOakland, California, 'this b ri ws. I v V GE GE. UE

A ue pr v dd -vit aipiret da ir r member lca ir i fby Said damper andwhereof, hereunto set

